It was a bold speech to make, but I was determined to give him a
quid pro quo, and, as a matter of fact, he took it in very good part,
laughing heartily at the joke.
After this I saluted such of the councillors present as I knew, which
was not many, for most of my old friends were dead, and sat down upon
the stool that was placed for me not very far from the dwarf Zikali, who
stared at me in a stony fashion, as though he had never seen me before.
There followed a pause. Then, at some sign from Panda, a side gate in
the fence was opened, and through it appeared Saduko, who walked
proudly to the space in front of the King, to whom he gave the salute
of "Bayéte," and, at a sign, sat himself down upon the ground. Next,
through the same gate, to which she was conducted by some women, came
Mameena, quite unchanged and, I think, more beautiful than she had ever
been. So lovely did she look, indeed, in her cloak of grey fur, her
necklet of blue beads, and the gleaming rings of copper which she wore
upon her wrists and ankles, that every eye was fixed upon her as she
glided gracefully forward to make her obeisance to Panda.
This done, she turned and saw Nandie, to whom she also bowed, as she
did so inquiring after the health of her child. Without waiting for an
answer, which she knew would not be vouchsafed, she advanced to me and
grasped my hand, which she pressed warmly, saying how glad she was to
see me safe after going through so many dangers, though she thought I
looked even thinner than I used to be.
Only of Saduko, who was watching her with his intent and melancholy
eyes, she took no heed whatsoever. Indeed, for a while I thought that
she could not have seen him. Nor did she appear to recognise Cetewayo,
although he stared at her hard enough. But, as her glance fell upon the
two executioners, I thought I saw her shudder like a shaken reed. Then
she sat down in the place appointed to her, and the trial began.
The case of Saduko was taken first. An officer learned in Zulu
law--which I can assure the reader is a very intricate and
well-established law--I suppose that he might be called a kind of
attorney-general, rose and stated the case against the prisoner. He told
how Saduko, from a nobody, had been lifted to a great place by the
King and given his daughter, the Princess Nandie, in marriage. Then he
alleged that, as would be proved in evidence, the said Saduko had urged
on Umbelazi the Prince, to whose party he had attached himself, to
make war upon Cetewayo. This war having begun, at the great battle of
Endondakusuka, he had treacherously deserted Umbelazi, together with
three regiments under his command, and gone over to Cetewayo, thereby
bringing Umbelazi to defeat and death.